So Hudson loves to watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Which, if any of you have watched, they have Toodles...the reliable mouse with all the tools.

Hudson was helping me clean out my car the other day. He dropped the keys in the backseat and couldn't get to them. He asked me how to get them and I said, "I don't know, what do you think?" He says, "I know....We'll use a Mousekatool! Oh Tooooooodllllllllessssss????"

Finally. Finally, could it really be? She eats! Hanley has been a finiky eater since she was about three months old. I quit nursing because she was such a pain to feed and she continued to be a pain. For about two weeks now she has ate like a normal baby. Thank goodness because it really stressed me out. Neither of the boys were like this. If there was food, they were there. She also sits up. She can’t get into a sitting position on her own as she doesn’t yet get on her knees when she’s on the ground (she’s trying!) but she’ll sit for a long time and play. She babbles and has learned to blow raspberries. She’s also a mamma’s girl. Can you believe she’s 7 ½ months? I know I can’t.

Hudson. Oh that child. He is so so so cute! He wants to do everything the older kids or I is doing. He has a little lawnmower to mow the grass. He has a kitchen set to make coffee. He has tools so he can “screwdriver” everything, a scooter to ride like his brother, and a soccer ball for brother’s soccer practice too. He has no clue he’s only two. Also for about a month now he has been sleeping in a big boy bed…he crawled out of his crib one day and that was the end of that. He really surprised me….I have no faith in my child because I was terrified to have him be able to move about while I'm sleeping. He gets into EVERYTHING. Anyway, he’s been great and does exactly what he’s supposed to do. He’s going to be a fun one to raise, I’m eager to see what he ends up doing when he’s older.

For a while I’ve really struggled with Caleb. He’s a very strong willed child and it drives me insane. He constantly reminds me I have no flippin clue what I’m doing as a parent. At the end of some days I was left exhausted and crying because he would push so hard. He’s always been strong willed but in the last year it’s became more evident just how hard-headed he is. Anyway, the last couple months Caleb, as well as all of us parents, have worked really hard to work through this. Caleb is now back to his normal self that I knew was in there. Now he’s still hard headed but he has changed a lot and he has been pushed to change. I have missed him. I know that sounds funny, but I really have. I’m so thankful for these changes as I know he is. He is an amazing child, very smart and would give you the shirt off his back if you needed it. While he doesn’t necessarily have a servant’s heart, he has a helping heart. He started soccer a couple weeks ago and is doing great! He realized he needs to up his cardio a bit as the field is HUGE but he’s taken to the challenge like it’s nothing. His skills have improved since last year and he is all about teamwork. I’m very proud of him. His first game is this Saturday and he’s excited. He’s also soaking up what’s left of his summer enjoying his friends and video games. School starts on the 29th and although he wants to see his friends, he doesn’t want homework. What kid does right?

Oh Hanley, I think you’re going to be my drama queen. At 7 months old you have already expressed to us that you want things your way and that you hold grudges. The problem is, I don’t have a flippin clue what your way is or what you want. You are a hard one for me to figure out. One day you like things one way and the next day you don’t. And what’s with this not eating thing? It’s getting worse and worse. Kid, you need food to grow…you’re too young for eating disorders. You look great as you are! The bottle really isn’t that bad. You didn’t like nursing so you really need to take your bottle. I get that you like cereal and baby food but you still need a bottle.
On the other hand, you are CUTE! I love love LOVE your big, round, blue eyes. Every time you see me you give me the biggest, “Hi Mom!” smile and you melt my heart over and over. It makes me smile when I lay you on the changing table, you take a big breath in and ‘talk’ to me as you make eye contact. I can’t wait to see what you’re going to look like (ok I can wait, just excited). You have red hair which really needs to start growing so I can put clips in it.

You are a rolling fool. I’m surprised you haven’t figured out how to roll to get to the things you want. Last night you almost army crawled and it made me so excited I clapped and made loud noise and you then were distracted by me. Oops. I have a feeling you’ll be up on your knees crawling in no time. You are trying to sit up but haven’t quite got the muscles for it. I see you being one to figure it all out suddenly and our house will never be the same. Although I don’t think you can do near as much damage as Hudson. And if you can, please don’t.

Hanley girl, I love you with all my heart and soul. I can’t believe how fast the first 7 months of your life went by. You have added so much to my life and you make me really happy.

He's two! How in the world did he get to be two? He talks so much and repeats everything. He is very inquisitive and smart. He gets frustrated easily like his mamma but he figures it out. And he likes to "fix" everything. If there's a screw driver around, he's trying to screw in something. If there's a hammer, he's banging on something. If there's a tape measure, he's measuring something.

I call him my little tornado, because, well that's what he is. He can destroy my house in less then 5 minutes. He's your typical two year old as well, lots of tantrums and expressing of frustration.

He might just be the cutest two year old ever! He's learned to say, "I love you" and "I love you too". How can I stay frustrated with a tornado when it does that?

His new thing is walking up and down the stairs counting them and he can get to about 7 or 8, usually skipping 6. Cute!

Having two little ones is really hard. I know one day it will get easier and they will grow up to be the best of friends but for now, it’s hard.

Most days my house looks like a tornado went through it. But sometimes it’s worth it because it keeps Hudson’s inquisitive mind busy. For instance, last night when I came home there were bibs and burp rags all over the family room. Hudson was so kindly moving them from the drawer they were in to the clothes hamper and then taking them out. I know that sometimes I should stop this but it keeps him busy. I’ve also been known to give him 3 cups and put goldfish crackers in them and show him how to count them from one cup to the other. Even though I know the mess that will come out of this, it keeps him busy and learning. I also gave him a pair of child’s scissors and a bunch of paper and let him go at it. This kept him busy for hours. These little “mess making” activities allow me to be able to feed Hanley or do the dishes so they’re sort of worth it.

Being a parent is kind of like constantly problem solving. I try to be proactive in finding solutions before there is a problem but this rarely happens. I feel like just as soon as I have this parenting thing figured out, my kids go and change up their routine and I’m clueless once again. No wonder there are so many parenting books out there, you need a new one each month for each new thing. I also know why parents like to give their kids parenting advice when they have children….because by the time the parents figure this “parenting” thing out, the kids are grown up and they have no younger ones left to parent. When my kids graduate high school I’m going on a ‘pad myself on the back’ vacation.

Well yesterday was my first day back to work. I was so sad to leave my little girl. She woke up with me while I was getting ready and she started smiling like crazy. It made it that much harder to get ready as I wanted to just sit there and play with her. It wasn't so bad once I got to work. Thankfully my job is really busy that the day flies by and I have so many distractions that I don't really have time to sulk. For once I'm thankful for having a 45 minute commute and a commuter van to work. I show up, get on the van, put in my ear phones and go back to sleep. To and from work is an uninterrupted nap. It may help me keep my sanity.

She's sleeping a little better. The last few nights she only woke up twice and then in the morning with me. She's so gassy though that it isn't always that way. She also likes to let me know how much she does not want to lay by herself when I lay her down...she gets in these little crying spells.

She's 10 weeks tomorrow. It's amazing how fast time goes by. It's a bitter sweet feeling really. Last Friday I took her for a hospital follow up and she weighed 7 lbs, 8 ounces. She is now officially the size Caleb was when he was born. And looking at her I have no clue how I gave birth to him. Doctor says she sounds and looks great. Everyday I am so thankful that she was born healthy being so early.

I am so thankful I have a daughter. I kind of wanted another boy. I had boys, loved my boys and knew I would. But having her has totally opened my eyes. I think about all the things I get to do with her...tea parties, pedicures, dress up, girl talks. I love it! I think she is the most beautiful girl in the world and I cannot believe how much in love with her I am.

I have enjoyed my extra time with the kids so much. The other day I chased Hudson around the house almost all day. We played and played and played. He passed out early for his nap and took a long one. It's funny, that kid goes by routine so much. Every morning we'd get up, go to the kitchen, he'd hop on the bar stool in his seat and have breakfast and milk. He's just sit there as I did the dishes and picked up a bit then we'd play and talk. If I tried to change it up to the table, he'd run over to the bar.

Oh my gosh and Hudson has such a memory on him and pays close attention. He was playing with the screwdriver and then went to change his diaper. Well like two hours later Hud comes in to tell me something I don't quite understand so I tell him to show me. He runs to the changing table and wants up. I lift him up and on the side of it where you can't see he reaches and sure enough out pops the screwdriver. Then he runs to the dishwasher, get's on his belly and starts messing with it because he tried to help fix it like a month and a half ago. And then just the other night he was trying to open one of my chap sticks and was having trouble. He goes to the towel drawer, get's a towel and holds one part with the towel to get a better grip. He's either super smart or watched me do it a few times and remembered. I could go on and on, he's always doing these things. He has also become a master fit thrower. I'm talking throw himself on the ground fits. Luckily he gets over it relatively fast...until the next one comes, ten minutes later.

I took Caleb to the movies the other weekend and it was so nice. I love it when I get little moments to remember what it was like when it was just me and him. Sometimes the older he gets....he's so into video games and friends, he has an attitude like no one's business...I feel disconnected from him. So these mom and him times remind me that he is still my precious little first born boy and he still needs his momma now as much as he did when he was little.

Makayla is such a little mamma. She is very hands on with Hudson. Not so much with the baby, I think because she can't do as much as Huddie. I can't wait to take her for a pedicure herself. The other day we had fun and did makeup just because. And she went from a 12 year old little girl to a 16 year old teenager with a little mascara. She is turning into a beautiful young woman who truly has a good heart. She's really into her friends now too. I think that's the age.

Well I can honestly say that that is the motto for my whole time off. I'll spare you most of the details of everything that has went wrong while off work....my leave not in place, medical insurance all screwed up, Makayla's dental insurance all screwed up, dishwasher breaking, etc. etc. Among other incredibly difficult things. It litterly has been one thing right after another. I have no idea how I've held it together.

I was supposed to go back to work this Monday. I figured I would take this week to get everything in place, all my laundry done for work, hang out with the kids, get my hair done and get Hanley's ears pierced.

Well instead one too many pieces of straw finally broke the camels back.

It started last Wednesday with a runny nose, rash and mild fever for Hudson. By Friday night his fever was 104 degrees and he'd hardly ate or drunk anything. He clearly was not feeling good. We called the pediatrician...she had us get him in the bath right away and if his fever wouldn't go down or it went higher with Tylenol/Motrin and the bath take him to the ER. If it continued, take him to urgent care. By Sunday when the medicine was wearing off his fever was still that high, he was not feeling good at all, no energy and hardly drinking or eating and a painful cough deep in his chest. So I took him to Urgent care. He got a little boost of energy while there and tried to get into everything and then completely wiped out. He fell asleep in my arms in the room. He woke up while she examined him and after she looked in his mouth he was saying, "Done. Done." in a pleading pitiful voice. I felt so bad. He had an infection in both ears and throat. She gave him medicine and sent us home.

Well in the mean time my sweet little girl developed the same cough deep in her chest. Then she went from eating every 2 hours to ever 6 or 7 and only nursing maybe 5 minutes. She was sleeping almost around the clock too. Her pediatrician said to get her into Urgent Care right away. Went to Urgent Care and because she was a preemie and less then 3 months old we had to go to the Children's ER (which is really cool btw).

Well she tested positive for RSV and couldn't keep her oxygen levels up and was admitted and they gave her supplemental oxygen.

Watching her get an IV and a catheter was one of the hardest things I've ever witnessed. I stayed with her and oh my gosh sleeping is next to impossible at a hospital and they start everything at 6 am when I was finally so tired I crashed but then was woke up like crazy. That night they tried to remove her from the oxygen with no luck. Tuesday she started to eat better but was SO done with being messed with.

If anyone but me messed with her she would freak out! They tried to take her off oxygen again that morning and no luck again. Doctor, after nurse, after CNA, after med student kept coming in to mess with her. I finally got to the point of requesting them to wait until she woke up and let me call them to check on her. They were constantly waking her up and it was getting harder and harder to calm her down. I was like, how can she get better if she can't rest. They were ok with that. About 7 that night they took her off the oxygen again and she did good. She went all night and we were released Wednesday morning.

She is feeling so much better and back to eating every 2 hours during the day and 3 at night. And Hudson is doing wonderful. VERY whiny but feeling much much better. You could see the sickness in both their eyes and now it's all gone.

She turned 8 weeks old yesterday and is growing still...she's at 7 lbs, 5 ounces. Funny, she's still smaller then Caleb was when he was born.

So with all that going on I requested one more week off from work. I need a week to recover from this week.

So my little girl has had zero problems since her little hospital scare. Last Wednesday, 2 weeks old, she weighed in at 5 lbs even and 18.5 inches. I was so excited when they weighed her!

She's doing fabulous. Her face is filling in more, she is now in newborn (the smaller ones anyway) clothing and diapers, no more preemie. Her hair is growing in more and it is a shade somewhere in between dirty brown and dark blonde. Her eyelashes are long and light and her eyebrows are light. She's gorgeous. I'm so so so in love with her.

She eats about every 2 hours on the dot which helps her grow but makes for tiring nights. The nights are hit or miss whether she wants to sleep at first or not. By 4 am I'm usually completely beat.

Hudson is doing good. At the doctor as well he weighed in at a whopping 25 lbs. His eye lashes are long as ever (see photo below) and he is so gorgeous. He always gets the old ladies attention at the grocery store or restaurants. He's doing pretty good with the baby. He likes to go up to her and rub her head and say, "baby". When he walks in a room she's in, he always wants to look at her and says, "baby". We've been taking him on walks, or should I say runs....he runs the entire time, wants to play in the dirt, throws rocks, such a boy. He is however, as I like to call him, a tornado. Goodness that child wears me out!

Makayla is doing good as well. All A's and B's so far except one grade that should be a B when her teacher posts the grade. Report cards come out at the end of this month and I know she's excited to have such good grades. It hasn't been easy to keep her at A's and B's and she's been very frustrated with me. But she did what was needed and succeeded. She has joined a Bridge Club (the card game) at school. She loves it! She's been going to birthday parties and slumber parties and talks about how much she loves having her friends.

Caleb's been struggling lately. He has always been the child that requires more attention and he so doesn't go with the flow easily. He also gets overwhelmed very easily. I have changed the saying from, 'if mamma ain't happy, nobody's happy' to 'if Caleb ain't happy, no one is happy'. He has been so disrespectful to us lately. I'm trying so hard but it doesn't seem to be working. He did this some when Hudson was born and so I'm sure it has a lot to do with Hanley being born. His grades are great, he has A's and B's. His have been easy to keep up, he's very smart and loves getting good grades. He's starting the Bridge club as well and is pretty excited about it. I'm very proud of him too.

So anyway that's our update for now...big little one wants lunch and little one is crying.

Shortly after she fed she spit up. Then she proceeded to choke on the spit up...I got the bulb syringe and sucked out her mouth the best I could. It was really mucusy. Well after she quit choking, she quit breathing. She didn't breath for about 15-20 seconds and then would gasp for air. She did this over and over. She did it for about 10 minutes and then once she started to recover a bit she would hold her breath and then gasp for air some more (Not quite as intense as the first 10 minutes). She was rushed her to the ER. And let me tell you, when you show up with a premature 4 lb baby with breathing problems, you get seen IMMEDIATELY.

By this time she was back to breathing normally. They hooked her up to the monitors to watch. She They ran tests of RSV and the flu and took a chest x-ray, which all came out negative for anything thankfully. Her oxygen kept going down so they did supplement her with some. They were debating on whether or not to keep her overnight. I was so nervous to bring her back home. The doctor's were debating because even with her oxygen dipping some, she was doing good. And up in the Pediatric part there were several babies with RSV and the Flu and they didn't want her to get it. We ended up going home.

The Pediatrician thinks that because her body/nervous system are still immature, when she choked she "overreacted" and didn't quite know how to handle it.

I have never been so scared with my kids. Caleb did something similar once, which scared the crud out of me too, but he was a bit older and ended up having RSV.